2009 Survey Results

44.6 percent of districts (246 out of 551) contract
out for food, custodial or transportation services.

29 food, custodial or transportation services were
outsourced this year.

Eight districts insourced services this year.

New contracts alone were estimated to save taxpayers
$6.9 million statewide.

Privatization
continues to increase this year as 246 districts contracted out for food,
custodial or transportation services. Contracting has increased 44 percent
since 2001 and displays a steady trend, growing an average of 6.3 percent each
year.

Graphic 1: Outsourcing by Michigan School Districts

There are 306 districts that did not contract out for
any of the three main support services. Five of those districts ended previous
contracting arrangements. Three other districts brought services back in-house
but had contracts in place for other services.

The relatively small increase in the percentage of
districts that contract out services hides some of the growth in contracting
that is occurring in Michigan school districts. If a district contracted out
food services when it already had a custodial service contract, for example, it
would still count only once in these figures. Overall, there were 29 new
contracting arrangements.

This year, the Mackinac Center requested cost analysis
sheets from districts that began new contracting arrangements to see how much
outsourcing is expected to save districts. Altogether, contracting was expected
to save Michigan taxpayers nearly $7 million.